Hey! I’m Jess!

Just a 30-something, trying to make the best out of life. I lead a busy life so in my downtime I binge tv, watch movies, read books, or hang out with friends! For more on the history of me and this blog, check out my “About Jess” page!

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Seventeen-year-old Groundling, Fennel, is Sightless. She's never been able to see her lush forest home, but she knows its secrets. She knows how the shadows shift when she passes under a canopy of trees. She knows how to hide in the cool, damp caves when the Scourge comes. She knows how devious and arrogant the Groundlings' tree-dwelling neighbors, the Lofties, can be.

And she's always known this day would come—the day she faces the Scourge alone.

The Sightless, like Fenn, are mysteriously protected from the Scourge, the gruesome creatures roaming the forests, reeking of festering flesh and consuming anything—and anyone—living. A Sightless Groundling must brave the Scourge and bring fresh water to the people of the forest. Today, that task becomes Fenn's.

Fenn will have a Lofty Keeper, Peree, as her companion. Everyone knows the Lofties wouldn’t hesitate to shoot an arrow through the back of an unsuspecting Groundling like Fenn, but Peree seems different. A boy with warm, rough hands who smells like summer, he is surprisingly kind and thoughtful. Although Fenn knows his people are treacherous, she finds herself wanting to trust him.

As their forest community teeters on the brink of war, Fenn and Peree must learn to work together to survive the Scourge and ensure their people’s survival. But when Fenn uncovers a secret that shatters her truths, she’s forced to decide who and what to protect—her people, her growing love for Peree, or the elusive dream of lasting peace in the forest.

For me, The Scourge is a blend between The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan and the movie The Village. I love both of those, so that made this book super enjoyable for me. A.G. Henley gave us a post-apocalyptic story where we immediately care and feel protective of our strong-willed main character. What I appreciated most about Fenn was just how honest and selfless she was. This may sound weird, but I was really excited that she was blind because I knew it would make her journey incredibly interesting.

The love story was really well done. It had depth and meaning, and it was also mature, which I was glad of. It fit the setting. Since Fenn is blind, she doesn’t choose her love by his looks, she chooses him by the person he actually is, which was a nice change from the normal “love at first sight.” We do get to meet two incredibly good guys in this book, but it wasn’t hard to see where Fenn’s heart would end up.

I thought perhaps this story had some magical elements to it, maybe having to do with Fenn’s protection against the Scourge or with other things later in the story, but the actual truth turned out to be a really feasible explanation to everything. There were a few twists to the story that I may have predicted early on, but it did not take away from the story one bit.

Overall this book was really well rounded. From story, to characters, to world-building, I enjoyed it very thoroughly. More people who are fans of the genre should totally pick it up. Especially at its very low price of $0.99 (or free for Amazon Prime members)!!

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FTC Disclosures

Some of the links in the posts above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Also, some books reviewed on Gone with the Words we received for free in the hope that we would mention them here on the blog and will be stated in Source area.